Suspects Skirt Distracted Police, Allegedly Later Kill

The Capitol protests in Madison during February and March 2011 were not peaceful. At times, protesters stormed the building through windows. One protester attempted to remove the exterior door hinges. Thousands stormed the building, camped out for weeks and often harassed the lawmakers and staff that worked in the building.

The disruptive nature of the Capitol Occupation required round-the-clock police presence for crowd control and protective detail for those who worked in the building. That diversion of resources had a ripple effect through communities across Wisconsin as officers who normally would be on the job at home, had to spend time attempting to keep the peace at the State Capitol.

In this video, a Madison Police Detective testifies in court, under oath, that his diversion to the Capitol prevented him from questioning two subjects identified by the victim of an armed home invasion, which he had begun to investigate prior to the Capitol Occupation.

The suspects are now currently in the Dane County Jail, awaiting trial for a different crime–a murder they are alleged to have committed several months after the robbery. It was a robbery for which they were implicated by others, but for which they were never questioned by police.

MacIver News Service’s Bill Osmulski reports from the Dane County Courthouse in Madison.